Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Middle of Knight by Jewel E. Ann

Armed with a sinful past and an equally sinful body, Jackson Knight absolves
his vow of celibacy to pursue Sergeant Monaghan’s
unsuspecting—older—housekeeper.

Ryn Middleton, on the cusp of turning forty with a snarky daughter, a killer
dog, and an abusive ex-husband, finds Jackson’s advances humorous and
unbelievable. After intense negotiations including Vera Wang, Ed Sheeran, and
sex four times a day, Ryn accepts Jackson’s marriage proposal on their first
date.

What could possibly go wrong?

While struggling to lay claim to the woman of the dreams he never had, Jackson
is forced to deal with a grief-stricken Jillian trying to hold on to her past
without letting go of her future—the doctor who took her heart and the Sergeant
who gave her a new one.

Beyond the hope for light, lies the middle of darkness, the illusion of truth,
and a haunting past.

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Where to begin? Oh, where to begin! I felt positively bipolar as I read Middle of Knight, but in a good way. I
use the term emotional rollercoaster to describe those books that make me feel
the full gamut of emotions while reading. I love emotional rollercoasters when
I’m reading a book. The catharsis of an emotional rollercoaster can make
reading a book a soul cleansing experience for me. But emotional rollercoaster
is too mild of a term for the journey Ann took me on in Middle of Knight. I think perhaps I’ll describe it as an emotional
hurricane because while I was being whipped back and forth between laughing
hysterically and bawling my eyes out, there were periods of calm the lulled me
into a false sense of security much like the eye of a hurricane does and them
BAM!!! I was ripped out of my feeling of safety and thrown right back into the
thick of things. Repeatedly. And I loved every page of it.

In Middle of Knight we pick right up
where End of Day finished with AJ in
the hospital after being involved in a car accident. Fortunately AJ didn’t
suffer any major injuries from the accident, but the news that is revealed was devastating.
To AJ. To Jillian. To me. Yep, the book started off by sending me into a fit of
tears. And while I won’t tell you what it is (which is going to make this a
rather vague review when it comes to the role AJ plays in this installment) I
will tell you to have your tissues handy because you’re going to need them …
often. Jillian’s relationship with AJ took an unexpected turn I did not expect
and that broke my heart as Jillian discovered that the depths of her strength
were even deeper than she realized as she faced some of the most difficult
decisions she’s had to make since her parents’ death. For the record, I’m
tearing up as I write this review – that’s how much Middle of Knight impacted me. And just when Jillian doesn’t think
things can get any worse, a ghost from her past shows up and sends her world
spinning off its axis.

In addition to continuing Jillian and AJ’s relationship, Middle of Knight gave readers a much closer look at Jackson and boy
would I love to have that closer look in person. The tatted up bad boy brother
whose love of his sister is so obvious it will melt your heart shows us just
how sexy 40 can be for a woman. Oh yes, Jackson has a thing for older women as
Jillian tells us so eloquently in a memory “Jude likes older women – smart,
older women. He said it’s hard to fuck a woman’s brain out if she doesn’t
actually have a brain.” And Ryn Middleton has broken Jackson’s resolve to
change Jude’s manwhoring ways … kinda. I loved watching the self-professed
serial one-nighter fall for a woman as completely as he does Ryn. That his
banter about her being his future wife and the mother of his children was
serious while Ryn took it as a joke kept their relationship light, until it
wasn’t. Considering the monster that her ex-husband is, Ryn has no idea that
her “luck” in unintentionally capturing Jackson’s attention has nothing to do
with his looks and sexual prowess – and didn’t that make for some seriously hot
scenes – but rather that his protective instincts and training will likely make
him her best weapon against her ex, whether she knows it or not. I feel that
storm brewing and cannot wait to see it play out.

There is so much going on in this installment in the Jack & Jill series
that the storyline is constantly moving. Because of the way that Jackson and
Jillian’s past so strongly affects their present, Ann moves back and forth from
the present to the past and does so seamlessly. There was no confusion as to
when in time we were during the story and there are so many secrets revealed
that my head was spinning, but not nearly as much as the new secrets that were
hinted at. I need Dawn of Forever
yesterday. I need to know what secrets Jackson learned about his parents and
why he feels guilty about Claire’s death. I need to know who sent Jackson’s
newest piano student and what she’s doing. I need to know if Jackson and Ryn
are going to stay together. I need to know what Jillian’s ghost from the past
is enduring. I need to know if the end – which by the way was the biggest tear-fest
of the book for me – meant what I’m worried it meant. And I really, really,
really need to know WHO IS SENDING THE TEXTS?!?!? Middle of Knight is another stellar book from Ann and an excellent addition
to the series that has me salivating for the next installment already.

With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.

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